FACT - Friends of Alum Creek and Tributaries
Volunteers working to preserve and protect the quality & beauty of the Alum Creek watershed and promote environmentally responsible recreation, educational opportunities, & citizen participation at many levels.
Columbus Recreation and Parks just advised FACT they will be hosting a volunteer effort to remove invasive honeysuckle (+winter creeper and garlic mustard) at Academy Park along the Alum Creek on June 19th from 9 to noon (276 S Nelson Rd, Columbus, OH 43205). Interested volunteers may sign up directly with them at crpd.volunteerhub.com/event/4defb747-1e9b-4112-bf26-0bb059efb619#_=_
"City parks staff and supplies will be on site. The event will focus on invasive removal, litter pick up and stream corridor restoration. Please wear closed-toed shoes and sturdy clothes (long pants/long sleeves preferred), hat and sunscreen, and bring a water bottle to stay hydrated."
FACT has done a lot of work in the Alum Creek corridor at Academy Park in the past two decades since adopting the area through Keep Columbus Beautiful for cleanup and stewardship. Our EPA-funded lowhead dam removal project in 2008 restored free flow to the river there, and restoration enhancement efforts on the creek banks up and downstream within Wolfe Park and Academy Park since then have included removal of thousands of invasive honeysuckle bushes, and planting of hundreds of native tree and shrub seedlings. Unfortunately the invasive plants are tenaciously aggressive, and energy to deal with it from the public land owner side of the equation has waxed and waned over time. The honeysuckle still has a strong foothold in the area and would require a CCC-like effort to conquer now in our region.
Many FACT members reside in Columbus where Curbside recycling since 2012 has moved Central Ohio closer to environmental sustainability by diverting close to a million tons of waste annually from the landfill to conserve space, energy and natural resources. FYI
This scares me. Are they thinking of discontinuing the service? 🤔😬 Columbus City Council
Nice incentives!Each year certain communities (more every year!) offer a $250 reimbursement for their residents to build a rain garden to help reduce stormwater runoff! We'll even help you plan it! Participating cities include: Gahanna, New Albany, Westerville, Obetz, Reynoldsburg, Hilliard, and Grove City as well as Franklin County's unincorporated villages and townships. Learn more and request an application on our website!
www.franklinswcd.org/rain-garden-reimbursements
Small Yet Vital Streams Could Lose Protections in Ohio
Small Yet Vital Streams Could Lose Protections in Ohio
ow.ly
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A vital part of watersheds in Ohio would lose environmental protection under a proposed bill. A committee hearing was held this week...
Great experience. I took a bike ride on the alum creek trail and Inniswood needs some trash cleanup
Happy April. Here's Ohio DNR 1 minute video showing off our State's native plants and flowers.
In celebration, we should all take an hour or two to remove invasive plants, especially honeysuckle!
Reduce your grass lawn footprint, instead plant native trees, and wildflowers. Add natural green habitat preserves, watershed protection buffers. Please remove invasive species like honeysuckle, garlic mustard, Bradford Callery pear trees, others that crowd out native plants. ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/invasive-plants/invasive-plants
Help with FACT's cleanup this Saturday morn at Columbus Academy Park. www.facebook.com/events/3765284323525574 If you can, please register for this Green Columbus Earth Day volunteer service event via. www.givepulse.com/event/227688
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.I can’t do the register thing ( why is technology so hard )but Jeff and I will be there!
Do you desire trees and would you like more preserved in Columbus? www.columbusufmp.org/get-involved.html Check out the Urban Forestry Master Plan, where you can see the draft documents, the details on the Columbus City Council hearing (3/24), and submit comments (by 3/31).
www.columbusufmp.org
The Columbus Urban Forestry Master Plan draft is available for public comment! There are two draft documents available for review below: the Urban Forestry Master Plan and the accompanying Technical...FACT is presently updating our email list; the only e-means outside of this FaceBook Page to communicate directly to you about volunteer events, watershed issues and FACT needs. Please visit www.friendsofalumcreek.org bottom of home page 'Subscribe to Updates' or email your request to info@friendsofalumcreek.org - if you haven't received an email from us this year. We really don't send many emails to to our subscribers, members, supporters, municipalities, businesses, partners. Your contact info is not shared and you may unsubscribe at anytime. Thanks for your help.
Q. How many Great Blue Herons do you see in the wide picture?
FACT president Dick Lorenz shared this photo of the magnificent birds seen recently in some large trees along the Alum Creek corridor in Westerville. A heron rookery (cluster of nests) is about 1/4 mile upstream from this location.
[For those that need extra help zooming in, a couple zoom/cropped pictures are also included.]
Bonus question: Is there a special term for a group of herons?
hint: if it's perched on a wire, it's not a heron...
There is usually one on Alum Creek during warm weather in the area between Columbus and Bexley.